Howbury Grange was a

women's football Women's football most often refers to: * Women's association football Women's football may also refer to: * Women's gridiron football * Women's Australian rules football * Ladies' Gaelic football * Women's rugby league * Women's rugby union ...

team which won the

Women's FA Cup The Women's FA Challenge Cup is the top annual cup tournament for women's clubs in English football. Founded in 1970, it has been named the WFA Cup, FA Women's Cup, and now Women's FA Cup (currently known as the Adobe Women's FA Cup for sponso ...

in 1984.

History

The team was founded in 1981, in

Bexley Bexley is an area of south-eastern Greater London, England and part of the London Borough of Bexley. It is sometimes known as Bexley Village or Old Bexley to differentiate the area from the wider borough. It is located east-southeast of Ch ...

, by Jane Hardman-Brown, a sports teacher, and named for a school at which she had taught. In 1983, they won the

Home Counties League The Home Counties League was a women's football league which was the highest level of play for teams in South East England. The league was established in 1970, on the initiative of the Amersham Angels team, which left the South East of England ...

Division 2. The following season, they were captained by

Debbie Bampton Deborah Bampton (born 7 October 1961) is an English former footballer who played as a midfielder. During her career, Bampton won a treble at Arsenal and two doubles with Croydon. She was also capped a total of 95 times for England, scoring seven ...

, whose father, Albert Bampton, became the manager. They reached the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

of the 1984 Women's FA Cup, but their opponents, the

Doncaster Belles Doncaster Rovers Belles Ladies Football Club, previously Doncaster Belles, is an England, English women's association football, women's football club that currently plays in the , the fourth tier of women's football in England. The club's admi ...

, were considered the strong favourites.

Yvonne Baldeo Yvonne Baldeo is an English former professional footballer. She played for A.C.F. Milan and Millwall Lionesses L.F.C. In 1984 Baldeo scored two goals in Women's FA Cup final in a 4–2 victory for Howbury Grange. Baldeo also scored the winning ...

and Terri Springett scored two goals each, bringing about a 4-2 victory. Bampton would go on to win a career total of five WFA Cups with different clubs and defender

Sallie Jackson Sallie Ann Jackson (born 21 February 1966) is a former footballer who played as a centre back. She won 6 caps for the England Women's national team and was the 66th women capped by England, receiving her legacy number in 2022. She won the Women' ...

later won with four different teams. The 1984/85 season was far less successful, with the team having to withdraw from the Women's FA Cup due to a shortage of players. In 1990, they reached the cup quarter final.

References

Defunct women's football clubs in England Defunct football clubs in London Association football clubs established in 1981 Sport in the London Borough of Bexley 1981 establishments in England {{England-footyclub-defunct-stub